Silence.
Then.
SCREAM.
"JASON!!!"
A piercing shriek tore through the gym.
Several female players collapsed.
Fainting on the spot.
Their idol.
The hero of the Western server.
Was now a headless corpse.
Twitching in a pool of expanding red.
The other players backed away in terror.
Their faces drained of color.
"He... he had a shield!"
"He was an Awakened!"
"One hit..."
"Just one hit..."
In the shadows.
The "Backstabber Duo" watched with grim expressions.
Glasses pushed up his frames.
His hands trembling slightly.
"That Chen Shi..."
"He's not just lucky."
"Jason copied his exact move."
"And died instantly."
"But Chen Shi touched Annie... and lived."
"And he's standing in front of Her... unharmed."
"His potential..."
"Is terrifying."
"He must die."
"If he survives this game, he will become a monster."
Meanwhile.
Amy tugged at Elena's sleeve.
Pointing at the headless body.
Then at Chen Shi.
"Sister Elena..."
"Why did the shiny uncle die?"
"Brother Chen also touched the ghost ladies."
"Why is his head still there?"
Elena was still squatting on the floor.
Her face buried in her hands.
She was shaking.
But not from fear of the ghost.
"I... I don't know..."
She mumbled, her voice muffled and hot.
"I didn't see anything..."
Amy tilted her head.
"Huh?"
The Dragon Country stream exploded.
A mix of dark humor and righteous anger.
[Hahahaha! Copycat got crushed!]
[Next time, bring your own Rizz!]
[But wait a minute!]
[System! Explain this!]
[A head exploding like a watermelon is FINE?]
[But a man's natural ambition gets a mosaic?!]
[Double standards!]
[I want to see what Elena saw!]
[Look at her reaction!]
[She's traumatized by the girth!]
[It must be terrifyingly majestic!]
[Justice for the Dragon Root!]
The foreign stream was in shambles.
Denial. Shock.
[No...]
[Jason...]
[This is a bug!]
[The game is broken!]
[Why did the shield fail?!]
[Why is the skinny Chinese guy still alive?!]
[He must be cheating!]
[Report him!]
Dragon Country viewers flooded their chat.
Ruthless victory lap.
[Cry louder!]
[Your tears are delicious!]
[Cheating?]
[It's called Talent, baby!]
[Jason died because he was weak.]
[Chen Shi lives because he is HARD.]
[Literally.]
...
"Five minutes."
Lady Cecilia spoke.
"Warm up your pathetic bodies."
"Prepare your muscles."
"But remember Rule Number One."
Her eyes glowed red.
"No items."
"No tools."
"No potions."
"Only your own flesh and bone."
"If I find a single external object on your person during the set..."
"You become part of the equipment."
As she spoke.
Her aura shifted.
Riiip.
The sound of fabric straining.
Her muscles began to swell.
Visibly rippling under the thin white silk.
Her deltoids popped.
Her quads expanded like tree trunks.
The dress was now painted on.
Translucent from the tension.
She wasn't just a "Mommy" anymore.
She was a Titan.
A biological tank built for destruction.
The pressure in the room doubled instantly.
In the shadows.
The Backstab Duo exchanged a glance.
Viper pushed up his glasses.
His eyes locked onto Chen Shi.
"Look."
He whispered urgently.
"Under his jacket."
"Midsection."
"Something is sticking up."
"Trying to poke through the fabric."
Fatty squinted.
"A weapon?"
"Or a hydraulic support?"
Viper sneered.
"Whatever it is."
"It's a prop."
"He knows he's weak."
"He knows he can't lift those monster weights."
"So Elena and the kid helped him cheat."
"They gave him a tool to survive."
"He thinks he can hide it under his loose clothes."
"Naive."
Viper's smile was cold.
Predatory.
"We don't need to sabotage the machines."
"We just need to be... good citizens."
"Report him to the Lady."
"She hates cheaters more than anything."
"One report."
"And he goes Splat."
The foreign live stream exploded with praise.
Celebrating the tactical genius.
[Oh my god!]
[Viper is a genius!]
[I didn't even notice that bulge!]
[Eagle eyes!]
[Chen Shi is dirty!]
[Trying to bring a jack into a lifting contest?]
[Disgusting cheater!]
[Report him!]
[This is 200 IQ gameplay!]
[Using the ghost's rules to kill the enemy!]
[Sit back and enjoy the show, boys!]
[Dragon Country is about to lose their hero!]
Dragon country stream.
Suddenly.
A blinding, golden light tore through the live stream comment section.
It wasn't a normal user.
It was a Golden IP.
[User: The Golden Emperor (Alliance Leader)]
[Let's make this interesting, Dragon Country.]
[A wager.]
[If Chen Shi dies today...]
[Dragon Country must cede 30% of its remaining territory to the Alliance.]
[Combined with the penalty for his death...]
[You will be reduced to the size of a single city.]
[A vassal state.]
[But if he survives until midnight...]
[I will cede 5 times that amount of land to Dragon Country.]
[Do you dare?]
The chat froze.
Then erupted in outrage.
[Bullying us!]
[You want to wipe us off the map?!]
[Shameless!]
The Golden IP sneered.
[Scared?]
[Don't you trust your 'Hero'?]
[Lol, pathetic nation.]
Dragon Country Command Center.
The air was heavy enough to crush bones.
The staff looked at the Old General.
"General..."
"This is a gamble with the nation's life."
The General stared at the screen.
At the young man trying to hide his "weapon".
His eyes hardened.
"Accept it."
"If he dies..."
"Dragon Country is finished anyway."
"We are already at the edge of the cliff."
"We have no retreat."
"We can only charge forward."
He slammed his fist on the table.
"WE BET ON THE KID!"
Ding.
[System Announcement: The Wager of National Fate is Locked.]
[Stakes: National Survival.]
The Command Room fell into a deathly silence.
Eyes red.
Hands trembling.
"That child..."
"He is literally carrying the weight of 1.4 billion people on his shoulders."
Inside the gym.
The five minutes were up.
Chen Shi took a deep breath.
He looked down.
Damn it.
It's still there.
The "Dragon's Bloodline" gave him infinite stamina.
Which meant...
It could stay rock hard for days.
In the shadows.
Viper and Fatty saw the bulge.
Their eyes lit up with malicious glee.
"Look."
"He didn't take it out."
"He's still hiding the prop."
"He thinks he's slick."
"He's dead."
Clap.
Lady Cecilia clapped her hands.
The sound was like a thunderclap.
"Time is up."
"Inspection over."
She walked to the center.
Her muscles rippling like living snakes under her white skin.
"The first exercise."
"The foundation of all strength."
[Squats.]
"The rules are simple."
Lady Cecilia pointed to the racks.
"We believe in... Progressive Overload."
"You start with your body weight."
"Then 1.5 times."
"Then 2 times."
"The final target..."
Her red lips curled into a cruel smile.
"Is 300% of your body weight."
"Three times your own flesh."
"Time limit: 10 Minutes."
"If you fail to lift it..."
"Or if you collapse under the weight..."
She stomped her heel.
CRACK.
The solid obsidian floor shattered.
"Then you are useless trash."
"And trash gets crushed."